John
Outline John is one of Gin's oldest friends, meeting him even before they both joined the wild dog army, or, also when Gin was just a small pup. Because of his rather rude nature, he started out as one of Gin's enemies, but after finding they had many similarities, they became great companions. John is a proud, aloof German Shepherd, and is black on his back and snout, while everything else is a light brown. He wears a dark brown collar in the anime, while in the manga he has a yellow collar. The Personality in the series John is an arrogant, cocky and short-tempered dog. However, he is also very loyal and brave. He is quite a big show-off and it's mentioned that he is proud of being European breed rather than Japanese one. He has seen the world with Hidetoshi and helped him hunt several animals, including large and dangerous beasts. It's possible that due to this he never had much relationships with other dogs, explaining his somewhat poor social skills. Though he certainly has skill and strength, he seems to view himself more stronger than he actually is. He often recklessly challenges much stronger opponents, like Riki and Gaia and even once the whole pack of Kurojaki, always being sure that he will win. He is impatient and wants to leap in battle even when it's not a smart thing to do and would lead in trouble or even his death. John has a notably harsh tongue. He is prone to swear and insult his opponents. However, he talks to the Old Dog in polite way, proving that he has respect at least for elders. He seems to have problems admitting the skill and strength in other dogs, but learns to respect Gin and Riki. Few times, John has shown interest in leading other dogs. At first he wanted to take over Riki's pack and then Kurojaki's pack. He seems to like the idea of other dogs serving and obeying him. Giving his attitude and temper, he probably wouldn't be very good leader. He is stubborn and sometimes doesn't listen the others very well. He also seems to take negative first impressions of other dogs, most of them later changing. He is often aggressive at the dogs who have done no harm. In'' Ginga Densetsu Weed'', he is much older and has became more humble, not anymore seeing himself as the best. However, he is still very confident and hotheaded, especially if underestimated due to his age. He is still aggressive (like towards Sasuke at first) and tends to not trust strangers (like Reika and Gon). Akame and Gin scold him at the times due to his rude behavior or eagerness to kill. Nevertheless, he shows extreme bravery and loyalty in the end. Ginga Nagareboshi Gin﻿ Manga John is Hidetoshi's hunting dog. As he meets the young Gin, he at first, becomes his rival at who to defeat Akakabuto with their masters. One night, when Gin snuck out to find the wild dogs which he spotted on a hunt with Daisuke John follows him, also wanting to figure out more about the wild dogs. John approaches the wild dogs in an arrogant and cocky way, quickly attacking the first platoon leader, Ben, but their fight gets called off as the bear Madara kills Bazzet. The wild dogs didn't want to risk more soldiers and flee, much to John's disgust. As the wild dogs and Gin jump over a cliff, John stays behind to fight the bear, being too stubborn and proud to flee. The wild dogs help Gin chase Madara away, and Ben admires both their courage and let them meet their boss. The leader and the group of wild dogs gathering to defeat Akakabuto doesn't impress John saying that it's weak to gather in a group. Gin decides to travel with the wild dogs, but made John promise to stay behind and take care of Daisuke. John promised to do that. One day Daisuke ventured out to go bear hunting, but soon got in over hanging danger. John stepped in and was about to save him, as the wild dogs' leader Riki appeared and killed the bear before John. Daisuke had passed out and the two dogs fought to test each others strength. John was defeated and then joined the Ohu soldiers. As Gin struggled with defeating the Koga dogs' leader Kurojaki, John ran into Hyena, who was trying to re-join the group, and the two spied on Kurojaki. John then attempted to capture Kurojaki, but failed. He then joined Ben's platoon and traveled alongside Gin, facing dangers like meeting Benizakura. John was present in the final battle and helped his comrades to defeat the bears led by Akakabuto. After the battle, he and the pack howled for those who lost their lives. Some time after the final battle, a pack of wolves captured Cross and her puppies and a new conflict began. 'Anime' John came to Ohu as Hidetoshi's hunting dog and eventually became a friend of Gin. After Gin joined the wild pack of dogs, John went to fight the leader, Riki. However, he lost the fight, for the first time ever, and decides to work for him. He then returns to spy on the Koga dogs and then joins the pack with Gin as the new leader. He also travels along with Gin to Shikoku to recruit more dogs. His role is alomost identical to that of the manga, with the Wolf Arc being absent. Ginga Densetsu Weed 'Manga' John is Gin’s best friend. John has been a hunting dog and owned by the man Hidetoshi, but he joined Gin a long time ago. After a mission to the Northern Alps, he, Gin and Akame get trapped by the Great Dane Hougen. John fights the best he can, but is ordered to surrender (with Gin and Hiro) when Hougen takes a the female Reika as a hostage. John manages to escape with Hiro and Reika on Gin’s order, but is quickly found again by Hougen’s soldiers. He convinces Hiro to take Reika to safety by promising not to die, then waits to face the soldiers alone. A few dogs choose to join him, yet get killed in the fight. Hougen himself appears and John fights him. Unfortunately, John is already badly hurt and cannot win this battle. His will remains strong despite his ruined body and he continues to defy Hougen by refusing to beg for his life or to stay down. Hougen gets his soldiers overwhelm John and torture him. This is all being witnessed by Hook and Sasuke, who are hidden in the forest and are too afraid to help John. As they try to will themselves to go down and fight John senses their presence and calls out that his comrades must stay where they are and live for tomorrow. Hougen decides to deal a finishing blow but wants to see him beg. John continues to mock him and refuse, so Hougen bites at a bad wound on his side and yanks out his intestine. John reacts in great pain and yet retaliates by biting through his intestine and freeing himself from Hougen's grip. The soldiers are in awe and are terrified of John by this point, who looks like blood covered demon while he stands and states that even if his body falls, his soul will live on in his comrades. His strength has finally left him once Hougen, who is enraged, knocks him over. He begins to see memories of Hidetoshi, Gin and his old comrades, unaware of his body or his true surroundings. He then sees Smith and Riki across a river who tell him not to give in. Hougen continues to taunt John and becomes furious at being ignored and he continues to abuse John's body until his horrified soldiers convince him that he must be dead, at which John is finally left to die alone in the snow. As they leave, Hougen finds himself experiencing fear in his heart for the first time after his experience with John's unbeatable spirit. Before John takes his last breath, he meets Weed who arrived too late after hearing his voice in the wind. Hook and Sasuke come down from hiding at this point and tell Weed who John was and what had happened with Hougen. John regains consciousness and speaks to Weed, telling him about Gin's condition and apologizing for his failure at being unable to save his father. He begins hallucinating and thinks Akame is there along with reinforcements. Hook surprises them by pretending to be Akame. John tells him to look after Weed to which Hook responds that they already have an army of 1,000 soldiers and that Gin will be rescued easily. Weed and company play along to keep him conscious and pretend the reinforcements are arriving, acting out signal howls that signify how Gin has been rescued. They beg for him to just wait 5 minutes to have Hougen brought before him for mercy to which John scoffs and says he's always hated waiting. He thinks to himself how it cannot be helped, and that he is going on ahead to fight Akakabuto again. He then closes his eyes, never to open them again. Weed is enraged and wants to immediately avenge John, but is held back. His pack catches up with him and after they catch up on events, they mourn John, rage at Hook and Sasuke for their cowardice and cause them to regret their choice. They hear someone coming and decide to flee as they are within Hougen's territory. Weed is able to leave him alone in the snow after Jerome states that the snow will preserve his body until spring, so they will be able to return and bury him. All is silent and snowing when it is Ben who is revealed to be the source of the voice. He is blind and has been gradually increasing in dementia with his old age. He comes across John and speaks sadly to the body, believing this to be the reason he came that way and asks how he died. It had been 8 years since he last saw John, he believes it to be the body of a stranger and is mentally unable to recognize him. He picks up the body and takes John with him as he continues on his lost wanderings towards Ohu. Ben then takes John back to Ben's old owner Iguchi, who gives John a proper burial. His spirit was seen, along side Smith's spirit to encourage Gin to escape when he was captured by Hougen the first time. John appears to Weed in the final battle, encouraging him to carry on fighting as well as mocking Hougen. John makes his last appearance as a spirit to a dying Moss, he welcomes him into heaven with the rest of the deceased soldiers. 'Anime' A direct lieutenant and lifetime friend of Gin. What transpires is similar to the manga in that he gets kidnapped along with Gin by following orders to surrender and save Reika from death. He was killed by Hougen and his dogs after escaping with Reika and Hiro. Instead of having his intestines jerked out, a less graphic but still defiant scene was inserted: Hougen picks him up and slams him into a tree, which impales him through the side on a low, stake-like branch. After being mocked John breaks free while still impaled, delivers some defiant lines and tears the branch from his body. He looks upon them with contempt and scorns them further before hurling the branch at Hougen's head and cutting his face. This shocks Hougen and his soldiers, resulting in him being thrashed about by Hougen. He continues to beat on John until the soldiers plead for Hougen to stop and they all leave. A similar scene then plays out when Weed arrives, with Hook already being there. However in this version he hangs on until Weed's pack arrives, including Hiro, who speaks to John of Reika being safe. They then all play the charade of the cavalry coming and Gin being rescued. GB pretends to be Akame and Hiro is the one to reassure him of things before his death, instead of Hook. Hiro carries his body with them up to the cabin they had been hiding in, where Reika wails over his corpse. They dig graves for John and the other dogs that had died in that fight against Hougen's soldiers, then they all howl on a cliff with grief. The following day Hiro tells Hook to escort Reika to Ohu, and presents him with John's fang which had snapped during the fight to bury once he gets there. His ghost shows up in the last episode, taunting Hougen and standing firm behind Weed with all the other dead grand males of Ohu. 'Trivia' It is revealed in Ginga Densetsu Weed: Orion, that John has a nephew from Finland called Andy. It was also revealed that John was born in Finland See more pictures in John (Photo Gallery) Category:Ginga Nagareboshi Gin Characters Category:Ginga Densetsu Weed Characters Category:Shin Gaiden Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:German Shepherds Category:Ohu Soldiers Category:Ohu Veterans Category:Hunting Dogs Category:Dogs Category:Males Category:Deceased (killed by Hougen) Category:Heroic sacrifices Category:Deceased (died of wounds) Category:Surviving Ohu soldiers Category:Pet Dogs